1. Field of the Invention
The field of art to which this invention pertains is solid-bed adsorptive separation. Specifically, it relates to an improved process for separating sterols from tall oil pitch. The improved process utilizes adsorbents and desorbents not previously used for this separation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art to separate sterols from vegetable and tall oil fractions, e.g., pitch and cholesterol from wool fat, etc. U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,807 discloses the method of isolating sterols from a source of sterol-containing material in a column packed with alumina, magnesium silicate (Florisil) or silica gel and eluting the sterols with a liquid such as heptane-acetone (19:1) 18:2 (v:v), toluene acetone (29:1) (v:v), toluene, heptane-n-butyl acetate (5:1) or heptane-toluene-acetone (70:1:9) (v:v:v). Phytosterols have been separated from sulfate soap, a by-product of tall oil manufacture, by column chromatography on alumina by Russians Nekrasova and Kaganovich and associates. Cholesterol has been adsorbed onto charcoal and steady state reached by W. J. Dorson et al. Trans. Am. Soc. Artif. Intern. Organs, 25, pp 77-80, 1979.